Lift

Product Notes

Exp.trank. Electro. Fusion. Core The Lift ep is the original document. It is the first recording we made, after about six months of writing and rehearsing. From that recording came a handful of local shows, a slot at the Jacksonville Hemp Rally, an interview on the local NPR affiliate, and another handful of local press. Look for the Damiana vs. Dogasse reunion tour summer 2012! "Semi -improvised electronic music which incorporates lots of samples and treated percussion. A bit heady at times, but overall an ambitious and frequently engaging band...Defiantly experimental local duo playing partially improvised jam rock on a variety of electronic and synthetic instruments...These two electronic/experimental music veterans play partially improvised soundscapes to abstract video collages. Damiana vs. Dogasse claim both the Dub movement and Skinny Puppy as influences, and with keyboards, samplers, electronic drums, handheld percussion and micro cassettes, they're easily the least commercial band playing City Market all year. " Jim Reed- Connect Savannah "As the host of the now defunct "Push" show on Savannah State University's WHCJ-FM, Randy Carter covered a lot of musical territory. His play lists included free jazz, electronic music, indie rock, and everything in between. Airing of Sunday nights, the program earned a dedicated following of local listeners who were attracted by the free- form format and Carter's varied tastes. Carter is now on the other side of the equation, so to speak, working in collaboration with Mark Pike under the moniker Damiana Vs. Dogasse. They have just released a five song ep called "Lift". Carter said his experience behind the console at WHCJ and other stations informed his work as a recording artist. "Mark and I have both put in time as radio programmers," he said. "It gave us acess to much larger music libraries than most could imagine. As creatives, we both reached a point where playing other peoples music wasn't as satisfying as taking the reigns and making our own unique sound." Carter and Pike's sound rides the borders between techno, dub, and trance. They aim for an almost organic aesthetic both in recording and performing, which puts them at odds with ruling orthodoxies in electronic music. "I have been to electronic music festivals where half the acts were "performing" by pushing play on a laptop. That can be enjoyable in the right state of mind, but can otherwise be quite boring. We decided that if we couldn't recreate a song live, it was useless. We also wanted the show to be visually stimulating. To that end, Mark edits film for particular performances, we employ costumes and theatrical lighting when possible." Damiana Vs. Dogasse employs a variety of instruments including keyboards, samplers, a drum machine, electronic drum kit, mini cassette players, flute, and hand percussion. With this menagerie of instruments, the duo is able to counter another misconception about electronic music: that it is repetitive and devoid of emotion. One of Carter's major interests, Dub music, is important in this regard. While Jamaican dub innovators such as Lee "Scratch" Perry were pushing the limits of 1970's studio equiptment, the music they created transcended the technology used to make it. "Dub, as an offshoot of Reggae music, is responsible for a number of current trends. Drum and Bass, electronica, and even the concept of the remix can be traced back to Kingston, Jamaica." said Carter. "I believe the appeal to us is twofold. Being all about a good rhythm is very important to us. Dub also introduced the studio as an instrument. We utilize this idea live and in the studio." While each composition is fully conceived, Carter said he and Pike find ample room to experiment with the material. " The structure of our songs are fairly set,"he said. "The sounds, samples, and beats are the same each performance. We find freedom within these boundaries for variation and improvisation." Carter has taken undergraduate and graduate classes at SCAD and credit's the college for creating an atmosphere that is receptive to the duo's work. "We both appreciate the vibrant and inquisitive youth culture that SCAD brings to Savannah," he said. "If anything, we are making art music for art people and believe the open minded and experimental nature of art students will respond to this." John Bennett - the Campus Chronicle "Hypnotic strings and choir voices coupled with a flood of percussive sounds...a harsher and more experimental version of Enigma, without the safe pop-beat. In fact, DvsD actually accomplishes the transcendental mood that Enigma superficially replicates. Unconcerned with placating the audience with trendy dance beats, this techno set-up employs real musical mechanics and compositional talent to invoke a variety of ever changing moods. The energetic rhythms contrast sharply with the smooth melodies, creating a sound that is upbeat and livening, as well as eerily peaceful. The musicians are skilled at their instruments, keyboards and drum kits, and enhance the sound with snipped from context samples, rather than playing us sampled music under the guise of actual music. Their live set is a living audio being continually metamorphosing along well rendered transitions from one melody to another, often taking sharp right turns. Set up includes a stream of consciousness visual display- a random collage of images played on the monitor-- adding an optical consort to the audio samples. DvsD is not only a great band to listen and dance to, but way more interesting to watch than a DJ bob up and down in a booth. Anyone interested in electronic music but disappointed with generic techno played at clubs should definitely be at the next DvsD show." Aami Stafford, electronic music afficionado "Low-fi techno always seemed like a contradiction to me: if you're playing beat oriented, minimalist electronic music doesn't it have to have a certain Polish?,exactitude? Maybe not everyone thinks that way, but I know I just can't get all hypnotized by the pretty squeaks and honks from various branches of electronica unless it's really solid, precise stuff. The Savannah, GA duo Damiana Vs. Dogasse (is that dough goss or dog ass?) obviously has a different philosophy, sounding like a low budget, art-school Enigma (Gregorian chant samples and that sort of thing) as they pummel their way through one loose, spacey groove after another. They make a point of using real instruments in addition to the preprogrammed stuff, and I'll give them credit for that. As a matter of fact, they sent two discs, one of them live. The second disc is more successful in stretches; the percussion gets very solid at times and when it does, the long awaited strong groove actually begins to happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't last for long. These guys have some good ideas and they definitely have potential. They just have to start generating a tighter, cleaner sound if they want to appeal to more than the avant-garde weirdness junkies." Columbia Music Scene Check out Live 2002 for more music now The Lucid Luck dropping late 2007 Damiana vs Dogasse reunioun tour 2012.

Exp.trank. Electro. Fusion. Core The Lift ep is the original document. It is the first recording we made, after about six months of writing and rehearsing. From that recording came a handful of local shows, a slot at the Jacksonville Hemp Rally, an interview on the local NPR affiliate, and another handful of local press. Look for the Damiana vs. Dogasse reunion tour summer 2012! "Semi -improvised electronic music which incorporates lots of samples and treated percussion. A bit heady at times, but overall an ambitious and frequently engaging band...Defiantly experimental local duo playing partially improvised jam rock on a variety of electronic and synthetic instruments...These two electronic/experimental music veterans play partially improvised soundscapes to abstract video collages. Damiana vs. Dogasse claim both the Dub movement and Skinny Puppy as influences, and with keyboards, samplers, electronic drums, handheld percussion and micro cassettes, they're easily the least commercial band playing City Market all year. " Jim Reed- Connect Savannah "As the host of the now defunct "Push" show on Savannah State University's WHCJ-FM, Randy Carter covered a lot of musical territory. His play lists included free jazz, electronic music, indie rock, and everything in between. Airing of Sunday nights, the program earned a dedicated following of local listeners who were attracted by the free- form format and Carter's varied tastes. Carter is now on the other side of the equation, so to speak, working in collaboration with Mark Pike under the moniker Damiana Vs. Dogasse. They have just released a five song ep called "Lift". Carter said his experience behind the console at WHCJ and other stations informed his work as a recording artist. "Mark and I have both put in time as radio programmers," he said. "It gave us acess to much larger music libraries than most could imagine. As creatives, we both reached a point where playing other peoples music wasn't as satisfying as taking the reigns and making our own unique sound." Carter and Pike's sound rides the borders between techno, dub, and trance. They aim for an almost organic aesthetic both in recording and performing, which puts them at odds with ruling orthodoxies in electronic music. "I have been to electronic music festivals where half the acts were "performing" by pushing play on a laptop. That can be enjoyable in the right state of mind, but can otherwise be quite boring. We decided that if we couldn't recreate a song live, it was useless. We also wanted the show to be visually stimulating. To that end, Mark edits film for particular performances, we employ costumes and theatrical lighting when possible." Damiana Vs. Dogasse employs a variety of instruments including keyboards, samplers, a drum machine, electronic drum kit, mini cassette players, flute, and hand percussion. With this menagerie of instruments, the duo is able to counter another misconception about electronic music: that it is repetitive and devoid of emotion. One of Carter's major interests, Dub music, is important in this regard. While Jamaican dub innovators such as Lee "Scratch" Perry were pushing the limits of 1970's studio equiptment, the music they created transcended the technology used to make it. "Dub, as an offshoot of Reggae music, is responsible for a number of current trends. Drum and Bass, electronica, and even the concept of the remix can be traced back to Kingston, Jamaica." said Carter. "I believe the appeal to us is twofold. Being all about a good rhythm is very important to us. Dub also introduced the studio as an instrument. We utilize this idea live and in the studio." While each composition is fully conceived, Carter said he and Pike find ample room to experiment with the material. " The structure of our songs are fairly set,"he said. "The sounds, samples, and beats are the same each performance. We find freedom within these boundaries for variation and improvisation." Carter has taken undergraduate and graduate classes at SCAD and credit's the college for creating an atmosphere that is receptive to the duo's work. "We both appreciate the vibrant and inquisitive youth culture that SCAD brings to Savannah," he said. "If anything, we are making art music for art people and believe the open minded and experimental nature of art students will respond to this." John Bennett - the Campus Chronicle "Hypnotic strings and choir voices coupled with a flood of percussive sounds...a harsher and more experimental version of Enigma, without the safe pop-beat. In fact, DvsD actually accomplishes the transcendental mood that Enigma superficially replicates. Unconcerned with placating the audience with trendy dance beats, this techno set-up employs real musical mechanics and compositional talent to invoke a variety of ever changing moods. The energetic rhythms contrast sharply with the smooth melodies, creating a sound that is upbeat and livening, as well as eerily peaceful. The musicians are skilled at their instruments, keyboards and drum kits, and enhance the sound with snipped from context samples, rather than playing us sampled music under the guise of actual music. Their live set is a living audio being continually metamorphosing along well rendered transitions from one melody to another, often taking sharp right turns. Set up includes a stream of consciousness visual display- a random collage of images played on the monitor-- adding an optical consort to the audio samples. DvsD is not only a great band to listen and dance to, but way more interesting to watch than a DJ bob up and down in a booth. Anyone interested in electronic music but disappointed with generic techno played at clubs should definitely be at the next DvsD show." Aami Stafford, electronic music afficionado "Low-fi techno always seemed like a contradiction to me: if you're playing beat oriented, minimalist electronic music doesn't it have to have a certain Polish?,exactitude? Maybe not everyone thinks that way, but I know I just can't get all hypnotized by the pretty squeaks and honks from various branches of electronica unless it's really solid, precise stuff. The Savannah, GA duo Damiana Vs. Dogasse (is that dough goss or dog ass?) obviously has a different philosophy, sounding like a low budget, art-school Enigma (Gregorian chant samples and that sort of thing) as they pummel their way through one loose, spacey groove after another. They make a point of using real instruments in addition to the preprogrammed stuff, and I'll give them credit for that. As a matter of fact, they sent two discs, one of them live. The second disc is more successful in stretches; the percussion gets very solid at times and when it does, the long awaited strong groove actually begins to happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't last for long. These guys have some good ideas and they definitely have potential. They just have to start generating a tighter, cleaner sound if they want to appeal to more than the avant-garde weirdness junkies." Columbia Music Scene Check out Live 2002 for more music now The Lucid Luck dropping late 2007 Damiana vs Dogasse reunioun tour 2012.